1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus which discharges ink to a material to be recorded from recording means, particularly to an ink jet recording apparatus including means for cleaning a discharge port surface to remove foreign particles such as ink and dust sticking to the discharge port surface of recording means.
2. Related Background Art
In an ink jet recording apparatus, ink droplets are flied to a material to be recorded from a discharge port of recording means to perform recording. Therefore, during a recording operation, ink mist accompanying the flied ink droplets, ink mist bounced back from the material to be recorded or the like sometimes sticks to a discharge port surface. Moreover, when ink droplets, water droplets, dust and the like generated at an ink discharge time stick to the discharge port surface, they sometimes obstruct the ink discharge, deflect a discharge direction, or adversely affect image recording. To prevent this situation, a cleaning operation for removing foreign matters such as ink, water, and dust which have stuck to the discharge port surface is required.
As means for this purpose, wiping means for wiping the discharge port surface with a predetermined member is used. This wiping means generally brings an edge portion or the vicinity of an edge of a plate-like blade member into contact with the discharge port surface to move the member, and accordingly sweeps/takes/removes (wipes) the foreign matters such as ink which have stuck to the discharge port surface. It is to be noted that in the present application, an operation for removing and purifying the ink or the like which has stuck to the discharge port surface of the recording means by desired cleaning means is referred to as a wiping operation (cleaning operation).
Moreover, when clogging occurs in the discharge port by ink dried and thicken in the discharge port of a recording head, dirt or dust entering the discharge port, or bubbles generated in the ink in the discharge port, the discharging of the ink becomes defective or the discharge direction is deflected in the clogged discharge port, and a recorded image is sometimes deteriorated or disturbed. Therefore, as means for preventing this disadvantage, discharge recovery means is disposed for a purpose of forcibly discharging the ink from the discharge port to refresh the ink in the discharge port. As the discharge recovery means, a suction recovery operation for applying a negative pressure to the discharge port to suck/discharge the ink, a pressurizing recovery operation for pressurizing the ink in the recording head to discharge the ink from the discharge port, an empty discharge (or idle discharge) operation for driving discharge energy generation means to discharge the ink in the same manner as in a recording time and the like are used. Since the ink or the like sticks to the discharge port surface even by the ink discharge in the recovery operation, the operation for cleaning the discharge port surface is required even after the discharging of the ink in addition to after the recording.
However, since only the wiping operation has been usually performed in a conventional ink jet recording apparatus, the foreign matters such as the ink sticking to the discharge port surface cannot be necessarily quickly or securely removed, and it has been difficult to constantly keep the discharge port surface to be clean. Especially in a full-line type recording head using a large number of discharge ports, the number of discharge ports is remarkably large as compared with a serial type, and an area requiring the cleaning is also large. Therefore, it has become difficult to effectively clean the ink, water, dust or the like sticking to the discharge port surface in many cases. Especially there has been a disadvantage that during the cleaning of the foreign matters such as ink and water on the discharge port surface, the foreign matters such as ink and dust collected by the blade member and moved on the discharge port surface fall backwards or sideways from a cleaning direction, and cannot be completely cleaned.